two words on “graphic theme of vertical stripes”

 

Hey, this is my first post ever.

I was actually in the middle of one of my attempts of tidying up, when I opened that old suitcase filled with out-of-use men’s shirts. I just can’t throw away that stuff, because they are in excellent condition and made from fine cotton. So I cherish а dream to use them somehow someday. This time I quickly grabbed one shirt and rushed to make a pattern, cut and stitch (I like to make simple patterns myself, it’s a quite compelling part of my sewing routine).

I certainly felt inspired, something convinced me that I must use those weird   vertical stripes immediately, but I couldn’t recall where I spotted this unusual print.  I like to peek at those runway shows, but afterwards I have such a mess of outfits, prints and models’ faces in my mind…

 

I placed the button placket on the back. I think it looks cute.

Obviously I had a shortage of fabric, so I made an extension piece from the shirt sleeves to make the dress longer, but I mismatched the stripes on purpose. I think it gave the dress a bit of a modern feel. I didn’t want a real A-line dress from the 60-s, I just meant to recall the 60-s style. Also, because of the fabric shortage, I used another shirt in matched khaki color from the old suitcase to cut out a bias tape for the neck line. I attached a facing to the armholes and turn-up of the bottom with hand stitches to avoid visible seams. And made a noticeable patch just for fun.

            

I also made a very wide turn-up, expecting that it would make the lower hem a bit more rigid, to better express the A-line shape, but it didn’t seem to work without fusible interfacing. And maybe I’d call it a shift dress.

I didn’t make a photo of the initial shirt, but I made a picture of the remains 

 

So this is my favorite way of getting rid of old shirts.